Fears, Phobias, and Other Lessons

There’s no need to hide the obvious . . . when I was a little boy, my frequent visits to the doctor’s office and hospital were often accompanied by those painful, awful pricks to the arms and butt.

“It’ll only feel like a mosquito bite,” said the nurse as she sidled up to me on a rolling stool, prepared to administer the dreaded instrument to my hind quarters.

She lied. They all did.

More often than not, big black bruises were the result of my being violated with that horrible stainless steel “thingee,” not to mention the sudden, throbbing PAIN! Their idea that this was “good for me” never caught on. I later became a Chiropractor and coach, i.e., as far away from needles as I could get! “Booster” and immunization shots? Forget it! I still avoid them. Contracting some tropical disease could only be an improvement!

OK, OK, maybe its not THAT bad . . . but I still avert my eyes whenever some medical person tries to extract vital fluids using a pointed syringe!

I actually thought I had gotten over this fear at one time – like when I went to Sri Lanka to study acupuncture. Getting needles for the first time? I fainted . . . Oh yeah, THAT was a big ego-booster! I eventually “got over it,” however, when I learned that the solid needles were, in fact, a lot less painful and easier to handle. Still, I never like being stuck.

Now, at age 60, I’ve finally reached the point where testosterone shots are needed. Why? I could give you the whole list, but just ONE reason overrules them all – FEAR! You see, I wend and ordered the stuff, bought the needles and even got to the point where I would allow my wife to stick the top of my buttocks with that “thingee.”

It didn’t happen. For some reason, I could let a trained medical person do it. But when the moment of truth arrived – and I learned my wife had to watch a YouTube video to learn how to give me this 2-inch needle – I suddenly got nauseous and backed off.

“But Honey, I know I can do this,” she affirmed with the same gleam in her eye those nurses used to have.

Forget it. I didn’t hear a word she said after that. My Inner Child went far inside, to a place he felt safe… a place away from nurses, needles, and those things that all those other things that are “good for me.”

Phobias are like that. I’m still working on mine. It will take a bit of coaxing and reassurance, however, before my little kid surfaces again. But, based on how I overcame my fear of heights and other phobias, I know he really will come back, stronger than ever.

Do you have clients with phobias? If so, do NOT try to coax them out of it. They need to make their own decisions by first allowing their Inner Child – that Logical Soul – to find a safe place. They also need your assurances – that you won’t betray them prematurely by trying to “program” them to accept something that violates their trust.

During your coach training, understand that your Subconscious ‘being’ is a powerful ally. But you’ve got to know how to communicate with him/her!